Plamex lauded for its leadership, best practices and innovation.

He shows off a soundproof room, cushioned by foam all the way around, where a head and torso simulator nicknamed HATS works with his staff to test products in various sound environments.

“We have the opportunity to do more here, to innovate,” he said. “Most factories come here to find cheap labor but Plantronics is about creativity.”

The company, with more than 2,200 employees, produces 16,000 different products annually and operates on a system Bustamante created called “Just in Time.” With no inventory, everything is made to order and 92 percent of orders are shipped within 48 hours.

Bustamante is known as a co-founder of Tijuana Innovadora and a member of one of Tijuana’s prominent families — his cousin Carlos Bustamante is the city mayor. A fixture in the maquiladora industry for decades, he previously managed the construction and startup of Matrix Aeronautica, the first aircraft maintenance facility in Mexico.

“It’s really about Alex’s leadership,” Kannappan said. “It starts there and then it snowballs. The talent, the team, the culture is so strong.”

The stocky figure is a familiar sight on the brightly lighted production floor where workers build products. He says hello to workers by name and observes assembly lines and workers browsing digital kiosks for information from the president’s staff meeting notes.

Bustamante’s efforts have not gone unnoticed in the community, said Marlene Solis, professor of social studies at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.

“There are very few maquiladoras that do the things they do to contribute to the community,” Solis said. “The problem with the maquiladoras is that they are typically very small. They don’t have as good conditions, they don’t have cafeterias, there are many differences.”

According to Solis, one of the main concerns maquiladora workers share, despite where they work, are about low earnings.

The average factory worker earns $50 to $100 a week, said Solis.

At Plamex production, workers earn between $2.80 to $3.80 an hour, or about $112 to $152 a week, Bustamante said. Skilled workers, designers and other professional workers earn more.

“You have to be competitive,” he said, referring to the Plantronics plant in China, where wages are much smaller and costs are cheaper.

This is why the recent award is vital, workers are critical to the team and their high praise give Bustamante a benchmark.

“As a person you want to know, did you do the right thing, did you give them all the tools they need,” he said. “It’s all in the small details.”